1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to swimming pools in general and more particularly to a retractable safety net around the perimeter of a swimming pool.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Over recent decades, swimming pools have become ever more popular. Public pools are often found as part of a community's recreational facilities and can be both indoor and outdoor pools. Apartment complexes, hotels, and motels also include one or more swimming pools as offered amenities to entice people to reside at their facilities. Swimming pools can often be also found in the back yards of private residences. While some of these pools, particularly some of the public pools, are wading pools, the vast majority are pools that have depths ranging from three to ten feet or more. Such depths can present a danger of drowning to children or individuals who do not know how to swim. Additionally, many residences may be in a transitional state between owners where the previous owned has vacated the property and a new owner is either remotely located or has yet to take up residence at the property. These properties are essentially unattended and become an extra danger to curious and adventuresome children.
Swimming pools present a significant risk of infant and toddler death due to drowning. While communities may require a fence around the pool area, these regulations are usually limited to requiring a fence around the periphery of the property where the pool is located, but not necessarily requiring a fence on the interior perimeter of the pool area. Thus, if a child gains access to the yard, there may be no further barrier to exclude the child from the pool area itself. Pool submersions involving children happen quickly. A child can drown in the time it takes to answer a phone.
In regions where residential pools are common, drowning is a major cause of childhood fatalities. Reports have shown that in parts of the nation's Sunbelt, drowning has been the leading cause of accidental death in the home of children under five years old. The danger of swimming pools is such that 300 children under age five die and 2,000 more children under age five visit hospital emergency rooms for submersion injuries every year. These deaths and injuries occur regardless of the degree of supervision. For instance, at the time of the incidents, most victims were being supervised by one or both parents. Typical statistics show that seventy-seven percent of the victims had been missing from sight for five minutes or less. Forty-six percent of the victims were last seen in the house; twenty-three percent were last seen in the yard or on the porch or patio; and thirty-one percent were in or around the pool before the accident. In all, sixty-nine percent of the children were not expected to be at or in the pool, yet they were found in the water. These statistics are just for children under five years of age.
Because of the significant danger a pool presents, a number of safety measures in the form of barriers are recommended. While barriers are not childproof, they provide layers of protection for a child who strays from supervision. Barriers give parents additional time to locate a child before the unexpected becomes a reality. Recommended barriers include a fence or wall, door alarms for the house, and a power safety cover over the pool. Fences around the pool should be of a construction to prevent children from squeezing through openings or from climbing over the top. Gates leading to the pool area should be self-latching. If the house is part of the barrier, the doors leading from the house to the pool are recommended to be protected with an alarm or the pool should have a power safety cover.
While power safety covers are effective, they must be totally retracted in order to use the pool. Often, pool owners desire to have a pool open to improve the aesthetic atmosphere during parties and such or just to lounge around the pool without entering the water. In those instances, a power pool safety cover becomes a hindrance to its desired use.
Thus what is desired is a pool safety device that protects against accidental submersions while maintaining the aesthetics of an open pool.